Joe Biden Gives America Again Best Chance to Defeat Donald Trump

Joe Biden is once again giving his party – and the country – its best chance to defeat Donald Trump.

Biden announced in a letter posted to social media on Sunday that he will no longer seek re-election as president and will end his campaign for a second term because “it is in the best interests of my party and our country that I step down,” he wrote.

He is right.

Biden’s decision comes after weeks of political pressure following a dismal debate performance and media reports that deepened voters’ pre-existing concerns about his age and mental acuity. Reporting by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others revealed that Biden was showing signs of aging and cognitive decline, including slurred speech, disorientation and memory loss, that those close to him had downplayed or denied for months.

The fallout was significant. Prominent Democrats began to privately and publicly express their desire for Biden to resign, and even voters in his own party said he should be replaced as the Democratic nominee. Polls showed Trump’s lead over Biden widening, particularly in swing states, and prominent donors announced they would halt their donations unless Biden resigned as a candidate.

Of course, the choice between Biden and Trump was always clear. One has steadfastly led the country out of a pandemic and into a time of relative stability, passing landmark legislation that has undoubtedly improved the lives of ordinary Americans. The other is a convicted felon who excels at sowing division and who helped foment a full-blown insurrection by brazenly lying to the American people about the 2020 election.

But that doesn’t mean Biden was the best or right person for the job, and it was clear weeks ago that any path to avoiding another Trump presidency would be considerably steeper with him as the nominee. Until now, though, that hasn’t been a truism Biden has seemed willing to accept — as if his own political aspirations were more important than averting an existential threat to our democracy. According to Politico, Biden’s insistence ultimately waned as internal polls showed him trailing in swing states and losing ground in states once considered safe, like Virginia and New Mexico. We commend him for having the humility and self-awareness to put the best interests of the country above his own.

It’s not yet clear which direction Democrats will go next. The most likely scenario seems to be that Vice President Kamala Harris takes his place at the top of the ticket, which would be historic and potentially a boost to voters who may not have felt motivated by Biden’s candidacy. Biden announced in a subsequent message that Harris has his “full support and endorsement” to be the nominee, though some Democrats have said they would prefer an open nomination process.

Regardless of who replaces him, Biden’s decision means that many swing states where Biden has trailed in recent polls could now be back in play for Democrats. That includes North Carolina, a state Trump won in 2020 with less than 50% of the vote. Currently, polls show Trump leading Biden by about 7 points in North Carolina, but that gap could narrow with a new nominee.

From the Opinion Team

President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race on Sunday. Read more about this developing news event from our Opinion team:

→ Biden’s withdrawal solves one of the Dems’ many problems. But it also creates one.

→ Without Biden, Michelle Obama would be Donald Trump’s worst self-inflicted nightmare

→ Joe Biden Gives America Again Best Chance to Defeat Donald Trump

This is certainly not how Biden would have ended his decades-long political career. No sitting president has dropped out of a race this late in an election cycle. But the stakes in this election are higher than ever, and the country cannot afford to take any chances, especially when it’s clear that so many voters have lost confidence in Biden.

When Biden chose to run for president in 2020, it was because he believed he was the right person at the right time to defeat Donald Trump. It was, he said, “a battle for the soul of the nation.” That battle is still going on, but Biden is no longer the right person to fight it. His willingness to step down was crucial in 2020. But his willingness to step down now may prove to be his most important decision of all.